Ingenuous

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Posts by Ingenuous

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  56

  My mom's being told to shun me.

  by GetBusyLiving in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  those goofy bastards are up to their old tricks again.

  some background: i disassociated a year ago and explained why i was leaving to my mom, who agreed with me and told me that she's been thinking of leaving the dubs for nearly ten years.

  she's been inactive for the past year and happier than ever.

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  Ingenuous

  Back to the OP -

  GBL - That is awesome. I wish my folks could see things that way. Let your Mom know a bunch of us here are cheering her on!
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  30

  Low Low Low Self Esteem

  by joelbear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  man, if i don't solve this problem i'm gonna be dead one way or another.. i know i need to build self esteem.

  i am focusing on bringing things into my life that i find real fulfillment in.. i had little fulfillment as a witness.

  really only the pleasure i got from bible studies, of which i really only had about 10 real ones of.

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  Ingenuous

  Whew, JB! I'm so glad to see you posting. I was praying hard for you last night!

  There's so much to learn once we get out of the Org. But that also means there's so much more that's possible for us that wasn't before. Just imagine: Given however many years you spent in the Org, you've got at least that much time to make up for by finding the things you've missed out on. And there's enough out there that those "make-up" years are going to be full of discovery and extra-ordinary experiences. As you're already figuring out, the things you love are waiting out there. And there's also the assurance that you have never really left yourself behind - you are waiting to be discovered as well.

  There will be ups and downs. But now you are free to realize that no matter how your feelings may change moment to moment, those changes have no bearing on the value and worth of your life. Your worth is true, is reality, and truth and reality don't change just because our feelings do. You'll finally get to make true friends, leaving your fair-weather friends behind you, where they're supposed to be. You'll finally get to understand unconditional love. Those friends 'sticking closer than a brother' are out there as well (closer than you think) and will help you through it. If you're on meds, get in to see your prescribing physician now. Let the office know you're having problems and need to be squeezed in if they don't have a slot open. You should not be struggling so hard to stay afloat if you're on the right meds/dosages. I went through at least a dozen meds and combinations of meds before my doc and I found the right ones. Sometimes the "side effects" and break-throughs feel like adding insult to injury, but getting properly medicated makes a world - no, a universe - of difference.

  As they say: When you're at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on!
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  37

  JWs Love It When Something Bad Happens To Ones Who Have Left The "Truth"

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  did you ever notice how jws act when they hear that an inactive jw or a df'd person had something bad happen to them?

  almost with glee, they give that *look* that says, "we told you so".

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  Ingenuous

  When I was "in", the bad fortune of those who'd left was expected - 'Of course they're having problems: Satan's got them 'round the neck and we all know that no one who leaves is ever better off.'

  If, on the other hand, the person was doing well, it was because they were worldly and materialistic and part of the "system". The world, after all, 'loves its own.'

  I can't believe how nasty I was as a JW.
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  4

  Scams follow in Katrina's Wake.

  by hubert in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  scams follow in katrina's wake

  the fbi reported up to 2,300 katrina-related scam web sites in the week after the hurricane struck.

  the fraudulent sites pose as legitimate charities in order to siphon off the donations of well-meaning americans.

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  Ingenuous

  I did a search on charity-related scams today. The FTC advises filing a complaint with them or with your local attorney general. I don't know how likely they would be to find the WTS fradulent.
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  13

  "Witnesses Skilled at Rebuilding Quickly" - Article

  by Ingenuous in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  witnesses skilled at rebuilding quickly

  saturday, september 10, 2005 .

  by david bergengren

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  Ingenuous

  Witnesses skilled at rebuilding quickly
  Saturday, September 10, 2005 By DAVID BERGENGREN [email protected]
  
  NORTHAMPTON - As the floodwaters begin to recede in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses from around the country are expected to donate their time and construction skills to the massive rebuilding effort.
  The central focus for these volunteers will be on rebuilding damaged or destroyed Kingdom Halls, which serve congregations in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast, and the homes of Jehovah's Witnesses in the region. But as they typically do in helping to rebuild after natural disasters, the volunteers are likely to expand that focus to other neighbors in need, area church officials said in interviews this week at the Kingdom Hall on Bridge Road.
  "We help our fellow brothers and sisters, but we also help others," said Steve S. Burnham, presiding overseer of a Westfield congregation that is having its own Kingdom Hall, which was destroyed by arson in 2003, rebuilt by volunteers this month.
  Such was the case, said Robert P. Nicoll, presiding overseer at one of Northampton's two congregations, when Nicoll's 19-year-old son went to Florida to help rebuild after Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
  His son helped replace roofs on Kingdom Halls there, as well as on neighboring homes, Nicoll said.
  Responding to natural disasters has become a regular part of what Jehovah's Witnesses do, Burnham said.
  "We still have volunteers helping from last year's hurricanes in Florida," he said.
  "There's a spiritual value to (all) this," Burnham said, picking up a Bible and pointing to Psalms, Chapter 127, Verse 1, which reads, "Unless Jehovah Himself builds the house, It is to no avail that its builders have worked hard on it."
  Starting in 1982, when volunteers built a Kingdom Hall in Cambridge, Vt., in a single weekend, Jehovah's Witnesses have developed a quick and efficient way of building or rebuilding Kingdom Halls and homes throughout the world.
  The method, sometimes compared to a traditional "barn raising," now calls for hundreds of volunteers working during two weekends. Many of the volunteers are typically skilled building trades workers, such as electricians and plumbers.
  Since November 1999, approximately 7,730 Kingdom Halls have been built in this fashion worldwide.
  The Jehovah Witnesses' 90 regional building committees across the nation are taking the lead in organizing the relief and rebuilding effort in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast.
  "We've been asked to gear up for a long-term relief and rebuilding (effort). This indicates to us this will probably be a year or longer," said Grant R. Garcia, chairman of the Western Massachusetts Regional Building Committee, interviewed by telephone from Leominster.
  The fact that officials at Jehovah's Witnesses international headquarters in Brooklyn, N.Y., are calling on all 90 regional building committees to pitch in is an indication of just how major a rebuilding effort it will be, Garcia said.
  Preliminary estimates indicate 23 Kingdom Halls were damaged by floodwaters and eight were completely destroyed in the Greater New Orleans area alone, he said. The number of members' homes that have been damaged or destroyed is still being compiled.
  Each regional group is compiling lists of volunteers - many of them licensed in building trades work - who will travel to the affected area at their own expense to help in the rebuilding, Garcia said. A relief center has been set up in Long Beach, Miss., to help coordinate the effort, he said.
  Jehovah's Witnesses, a denomination that accepts the Bible as the Word of God, began in the 1870s in Pennsylvania and now has nearly 7 million adherents worldwide, including about 1 million in the United States.

  Original article here.
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  41

  Any pet related question you'd like to Ask or Answer?

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  why is it that each time my cat poops in her litter box she runs around the apartment full speed afterwards as if she pulled a trick on me?.

  why is it that my cat wants me to put more food in her bowl even though is's half full?

  and then once i do, she looks contented that the bowl is full, but doesn't eat any...

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  Ingenuous

  How far in advance of my leaving the room do my pups plan the mayhem they'll carry out when I'm gone? How do they strategize without my even realizing what's in the works?

  If dogs only lick your face because they want to be fed, why do mine run up to me and lick my face furiously when I sing to them? (Are they trying to get me to shut up?)
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  7

  Should The WTBTS Be Held Accountable?

  by Honesty in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  should the wtbts be held accountable for hurricane katrina relief donations even though they direct contributions be noted for 'world wide work'?.

  should they be reported to the us government and, if so, for what since they claim the donations will be spent where it will 'do the most good'?

  are they acting in a morally responsible manner by the way they are accepting donations for hurricane katrina disaster relief efforts?.

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  Ingenuous

  I suppose demanding accountability is possible. I found this on the FTC website:

  If you believe an organization may not be operating for charitable purposes, is making misleading solicitations or is ignoring requests to be placed on a "do not call" list, contact your state Attorney General, your local consumer protection office or the Federal Trade Commission.
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  26

  QUOTES and "Breach of contract"

  by hamsterbait in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  in the writ just served on quotes, one item seems to stand out.. if they claim that as a baptized dub, when he left he was in breach by quoting their literature, does this tell us that the new baptism vows mean that the candidate has entered into a contract in association with the organization?

  after all contractual partners in business are referred to as "associates".

  if this is the case the legal ramifications are interesting.. .

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  Ingenuous

  You may transfer all the SOFTWARE and all Printed Materials to another party who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses but only if that party accepts all of the terms of this Agreement...

  So does this mean they can go after the folks selling their CDs on eBay and other venues?
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  16

  Is this love? It feels like the flu...

  by Ingenuous in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for anyone who may have noted my happy news of about a week ago, the bubble burst after roughly 48 hours.

  after the 90% successful "let's agree to act like intelligent adults and respect the other's conscience" talk with my dad, he wrote a letter and renegged on everything.

  i am once again a hard-headed, ungrateful apostate.. i'm as tired of writing about the situation as you probably are reading about it, so i won't go into too many details.

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  Ingenuous

  You guys rock!

  Forever daddies little girl.

  So when daughter gets her own opinion, dad hits the roof...

  Sons eventually get respect but daughters??

  Doofdaddy - you know, I've thought about this. I was the "good one", the firstborn, the one who "spoiled" my parents because I was so easy to raise, so compliant, so eager to please. I was supposed to stay that way, especially when it came to looking to my Dad, the first and only significant guy in my life, as my spiritual and intellectual "head." My clarity of thought and determination to find answers has been interpreted as disrespect. While I've been accused of being disrespectful of my mother, it's the confidence I've displayed around my father for the first time in my life that's really bothering them/him.

  I remember asking my father questions as a little girl and he wouldn't answer them. He'd always ask me questions back, like, "What do you think it is?" "What do you know about it so far?" "How do you think that works?" It used to annoy me that he wouldn't just answer the questions, but I didn't realize at that young age what he was doing. He was teaching me to think for myself. Ironic that it's that very thing that led me out of the organization to begin with. I wonder sometimes if he realizes that.

  Andi - you took the words right out of my brain! While, when I was little, we played the "Daddies know everything" game, my questions were usually answered with an exasperating "Look it up." I was taught very young to ask questions and research and find proof and reason. Amazing that they can't appreciate the "monster" they've created by teaching me to think, raising a closet feminist. I'm grateful for what they've unwittingly given me - they've only got themselves to blame. And my heart breaks reading the things your Dad said to you, Andi. You stood there and listened to the words so many of us fear, words we know are secreted away in their hearts, words we're sure will kill us if they're ever spoken aloud. I'm deeply impressed by your strength and maturity and, if I may be so bold, am proud at what you've done with/because of/despite those words.
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  18

  Did you ever feel the JW "holy spirit"

  by Smiles in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  .

  were there ever times when you were sure you could feel or see "jehovah's holy spirit" operating?.

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  Ingenuous

  I sometimes felt the calm, warm sense of sureness that what I was doing or learning or coming to understand was correct. But I never felt the constant presence of God or support of the Holy Spirit that I thought I was supposed to feel as a member of the only right religion in the world. I was constantly jealous of pioneers and others who seemed to have "it". No matter what I did or how I studied or how nicely I prettied up my time card with extra activity, I could never get "it". I wanted so badly to feel I was personally "plugged-in" to God, that I knew I was doing the right thing because I had an uninterrrupted sense of "peace that excelled all thought."